July 25, 2026
Inter Miami take a controversial win over CF Montreal
Inter Miami, unbeaten in their last five appearances, arrived in Montreal to a frenzy of pink shirts but did so without Lionel Messi who has yet to return to MLS action since losing the 2026 FIFA World Cup final to Spain.
CF Montreal, on the other hand, haven’t won a match in their last five MLS matches, and will again be without their starting goalkeeper, Thomas Gillier, who remains sidelined with a concussion. They did earn two victories in the Canadian Championship over Vancouver FC, launching themselves into the next round in the process.
See Also: AFC Toronto defeat the Montreal Roses in Laval
There have also been a few moves since we last saw CF Montreal in action. The team acquired defender Brayan Ceballos from New England Revolution, while they shipped out another defender, Icelandic nation team member Dagur Dan Thórhallsson to San Diego FC, loaned Aleksandr Guboglo to French Ligue 2 club Stade de Reims and sold an international roster spot to LAFC as well.
Although Lionel Messi wasn’t present, neither was Rodrigo De Paul, Inter Miami did have something special lined up for the Montreal fans. The debut appearance of Brazilian international midfielder Casemiro. The Real Madrid and Manchester United star who has chosen to join the MLS, and the already star-studded Inter Miami.
Tonight’s match got under way and quickly saw action. Less than five minutes in, Montreal came close to opening the scoring when Prince Owusu came down the left side of the field, and fed a gorgeous pass through the box for Daniel Rios who just missed the gapping net in front of him. What could have been for a Montreal team that continues to find scoring.
The half, for the most part, was a highly contested yet equal affair that saw both squads find chances only to have they snatched by strong defensive plays.
In the 40th minute, it was Inter Miami’s turn to come close to scoring, when Telasco Segovia rang a shot off the crossbar. The shot itself was flawless, just slightly elevated, and try as he may an airborne Sebestian Breza wasn’t able to get a glove on the shot.
In the second half, the action again was evenly split and was looking like a single goal from either side could effectively sway the game in their favor.
An innocent looking play would unfortunately be the turning point tonight, it what had been a tightly fought and well played game that looked to be going Montreal’s way. Until it didn’t.
Germán Berterame and Efrain Morales both went for a lose ball inside the Montreal box, leaping for it simultaneously and crashing head on head into each other. Berterame came off of the clash in bad shape, unconscious before he slammed into the ground.
Thankfully, the quick actions of CF Montreal’s Brayan Vera probably limited the injury and brought attention to the incident rapidly. Vera immediately saw what had happened and was able to catch and cradle Berterame’s head instantly, as he waived frantically to the two team benches for assistance. Soon, others saw the severity of what had happened and joined in calling for medial help.
The medical staff from both teams came dashing until the field, so to did the the ambulance that is always sat ready if needed, to see to the unconscious Berterame.
Thankfully, he was alert by the time he was put into the ambulance. Vera deserves to be named player of the game for his quick thinking. No doubt about it.
Somehow, referee Alexis Da Silva saw it fit to award a penalty on the play. The call felt more like a reaction to the injury than to the play that had caused it.
Luis Suarez stepped up and slowly chipped the ball beyond a bewildered Sebastian Breza, who anticipated a hard shot and was caught off guard by the sneaky Uruguayan star and Inter Miami had the lead in the match. The infamous panenka kick, as it is known.
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Thirteen minutes of injury time were added to the ninety that had been played, and CF Montreal were dangerous for all of it. ultimatly though, Inter Miami would walk off the pitch with the victory.
CF Montreal will next welcome Brayan Ceballos’ former squad, the New England Revolution, on August 1st while Inter Miami will return to Florida to host the Columbus Crew on that same day.
